Little Angel Theatre Announces Participating Companies for 2014 FIRSTS Festival

Little Angel Theatre has announced the companies selected to participate in Little Angel FIRSTS Festival 2014.

Little Angel Theatre is committed to helping new and emerging artists and companies to explore and research new work. Through our INCUBATE and HATCH programmes, the theatre provides space and time for research and development leading to scratch performances on the Little Angel stage.

The next exciting step in this journey is the Little Angel FIRSTS Festival, which takes place each March, to help companies premiere new, audience ready puppetry productions which they intend to tour. This work can be for adults, young people or children and all tickets are only £5. The festival is supported by the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation. The inaugural FIRSTS festival took place in 2013.

Five companies have been selected to take part in the festival in March 2014. Each will be offered mentoring by Little Angel staff and two performances each at the theatre. The mentoring and support continues for three months after the Festival.

The companies and productions taking part in FIRSTS 2014 are:

Cell by Little Cauliflower/Red Threaders/Smoking Apples: after being diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease, Ted goes on a trip of a lifetime...and so does his pet fish.

Faust Refracted by Darren East/Touched Theatre: a contemporary puppetry adaptation of Marlowe's Doctor Faustus, exploring how we are defined, or not, by our data.

Buttons by Sort of Theatre: exploring the themes of memory, war and family which focus on sharing stories about the experience and impact of the Holocaust.

The Cat in the Cupboard by Tiny Light: the extraordinary tale of an expanding cat for 3-6 year olds.

London Under by Lama Creative: Take a journey into the depths of London Under. Beneath the chaotic city streets lies a lost world full of myth, magic and mayhem. Will you get lost in the dark?

Of the productions above, two took part in INCUBATE and three were part of our HATCH festival this year. The FIRSTS performance schedule is tbc and will be announced in January.